VideoSwitzerland’s Steve Guerdat and Dynamix de Belheme jumped two clear rounds Sunday to win individual gold at the FEI Jumping World Championship in Aachen, Germany, making Guerdat the first Swiss rider to capture an individual world jumping title.
The pair finished on a final score of 0.86 penalties. Thibeau Spits (BEL) and Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z took silver on 5.60 penalties, adding an individual medal to the team silver they secured on Friday. Harry Charles (GBR) and LT Holst Freda made the biggest move of the day, climbing from 23rd to bronze on 7.17.
Laura Kraut was the highest-placed U.S. rider, finishing 14th with Baloutinue, while McLain Ward and High Star Hero ended the championship in 21st.
Before a sold-out crowd of 40,000, Guerdat claimed the one major title that had eluded him, doing so as the only athlete to complete every round of the week without lowering a single rail.
“It feels amazing,” Guerdat said. “The world championship is something I dreamed of. Once I jumped the last fence, all the emotion came up. I don’t really have words for what it means.”
One Last Test
Twenty-five combinations returned to the main stadium Sunday carrying every penalty accumulated throughout the week. With two rounds remaining, less than one penalty separated the top five, and just 3.94 covered the entire top 10, leaving the title race wide open.
Course designer Frank Rothenberger (GER) presented 13 obstacles and 16 jumping efforts in Round A, with the imposing wall making its first and only appearance of the championship.
Six combinations jumped clear, but fortunes shifted quickly, and even some of the sport’s biggest names were caught out. Home favorites Sophie Hinners (Iron Dames Singclair), Daniel Deusser (Otello de Guldenboom), Richard Vogel (United Touch S) and Marcus Ehning (Coolio 42) all added penalties and slipped down the standings, dashing Germany’s hopes of a golden sweep. In the first round, Kraut had one rail down, and Ward had two.
Only the 12 best-placed combinations progressed to Round B, where Rothenberger’s vision for the week came to fruition.
“My idea before we started was that I wanted a good champion, and that they should be the only one to jump five clear rounds,” Rothenberger said. “And that happened.”
Only three combinations produced double clears on Sunday, and, fittingly, all three finished on the podium.
“I think that was a really good result at the end,” Rothenberger said.
Crowned in Aachen
Guerdat entered Sunday as the only athlete in the final field with an individual world championship medal already to his name, having taken bronze at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina.
Yet gold remained absent from an extraordinary list of achievements that already included 2012 London Olympic gold, 2024 Paris Olympic silver, 2023 Milan European Championship gold and three FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final victories.
That changed in Aachen.
When Dynamix de Belheme cleared the last fence for the second time on Sunday, years of ambition came down to one unforgettable moment. The one major title missing from Guerdat’s career was finally his.
Guerdat said the weight of expectation had followed him throughout the week.
“I was extremely nervous because I thought this might be my last shot at it,” he said. “It’s not all the time that you have a horse like ‘Dynamix’ in this form and everything goes your way. The week has been very, very long.”
Winning it in Aachen made the moment even more significant.
“It’s the history of our sport, and nothing gets bigger than Aachen,” he said. “There is not one day in my life where Aachen doesn’t come to my mind. I don’t think it gets any better than winning the World Championship in Aachen.”
Partners in Performance
Behind each medal stood an exceptional equine partnership.
Dynamix de Belheme has now contested three major individual championships with Guerdat and returned with a medal from every one: 2023 Milan European Championship gold, 2024 Paris Olympic silver and now world championship gold in Aachen.
Her preparation had been far from straightforward, making the 13-year-old mare’s performance all the more remarkable.
“She’s unbelievably smart,” Guerdat said. “If she didn’t have this quality, this class and this smartness, she wouldn’t have been able, with so little jumping, to perform like this the whole week. She felt today even better than the other days. I have nothing but pride in a mare like this.”
For 25-year-old Spits, silver completed an extraordinary week with Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z.
“I never really dared to dream of it,” he said. “I’ll probably never come to a championship with a horse in such good shape and so talented. He just gives me so much trust. After the team medal, I could enter without pressure and really just try to enjoy today. It’s unbelievable.”
Charles’ journey to bronze was equally remarkable. Just three months into his partnership with LT Holst Freda, the pair began Sunday in 23rd position before two textbook clears carried them onto the podium.
The combination began almost by chance. Freda had originally been considered for Charles’ wife, Eve, but when the opportunity arose to see the mare, Charles and his father traveled to the Netherlands.
“We just stood looking at her in the crossties, and I said, ‘I don’t think you even need to try this horse.’ I was so in love with her already,” he said.
What followed exceeded even their expectations.
“We honestly got on really well from Day 1. She is a freak, the amount of power she can generate and her nature. I’ve never had a horse like her, and I might never again,” Charles said. “She’s the one for the future, and I just want to take good care of her now. She’s strictly for the big, big things in this world.”
For More:
- See results, orders of go, and more.
- Read more of our coverage from the 2026 FEI World Championships held in Aachen, Germany, from Aug. 11–23, here.
